Shyre Thakkar, Pooja Kumar, Sanjna Udtha, Michael Kurian
6th Grader: Austin Joseph
Empathy:
Question 1: How did you feel on the first day of school?
Response: I felt that I needed a better schedule and I needed to know where to go. Overall, I liked all my teachers and the classes were fine.
Question 2: Tell me about a time you felt scared or intimidated in school.
Response: I never have really felt scared in the school.
Question 3: How did you feel when you went to all your classes? What do you think of all your teachers?
Response: I liked my classes, but the only problem, was that I think that the teachers should try to teach more advanced material.
Question 4: How do you feel about your locker?
Response: I don't really like the lockers because it has very little space and it is way too small to hold all of my binders, notebooks, etc.
Question 5: Tell me about a time you have felt overwhelmed in school.
Response: I have never really felt overwhelmed in this school because overall everyone is friendly and I haven't had any bad experiences with anyone (including the 8th graders).
Question 6: Tell me about a time you have slept extremely late because of homework.
Response: I have not stayed up late at all doing homework, I actually feel that I have less homework than I did in other schools that I went to, but I still stay up late for my own personal fun.
Question 7: What do you think about the lunch here?
Response: I think the lunch is awesome and much better than elementary school, but the lunch lines are very long.
Question 8: What do you think about the expectation levels here?
Response: Everything was almost up to my expectations (like I saw at the orientation), the only thing was, and I expected the curriculum to be higher level and more challenging.
Question 9: Is there any problems overall that you felt needed to be fixed at this school?
Response: I think that there should be bigger hallways, bigger lockers, and shorter lunch lines.
Define:
Possible Challenges:
Small Lockers*
Long Lunch Lines
Curriculum Too Easy
Bigger Hallways
Reflection Question: Why did you choose this challenge over all of the other possible challenges? Why, if this problem is solved, will it have the largest impact on many students?
We chose this challenge over all the other challenges because it seemed to impact a majority of the 6th graders, and Austin stressed that his biggest problem was having lack of space in his locker.This challenge was the best challenge to choose because lockers are a huge part of middle school. It is impossible for you to be organized and carry ALL of your stuff around at the same time. Having a locker is a solution to not having to carry all of your books and binders around. But this same locker, can become your biggest problem if you don't keep it organized and clean. You will have to dig in and out of your locker for things if you don't keep your locker tidy. This can lead to the problem of not having enough space to fitting all of your materials. If this problem is solved, it would have a huge impact on many students because people wouldn't have to carry around much stuff anymore, their lockers wouldn't be messy, and overall, things would be easier for them. Getting from class to class, and going to seven classes in a day would be much less of a hassle to them because their locker will be organized and it won't be difficult to get what they need and put away materials for each class. They may also start arriving to class earlier because they don't have to waste time on trying to fit their supplies in their locker.
Ideate:
We brainstormed several ideas for our 6th grader’s problem (Austin) but in the end he chose 5 of our solutions that we combined to make our final product. Austin liked all the ideas and wanted to combine them because all of them solved his problem of his small locker space. He couldn't fit anything before, but all these ideas combined organized his locker, gave him more space, and made necessary things more accessible.
Some of our ideas! :)
Pencil made pencil holder: Holds all the supplies and works like a pencil box.
All-in-One school supplies: Has everything a person needs in supplies- all in one machine.
Portable Pocket: An extremely large pocket that holds all of your stuff, yet you can still fit it into your pocket.
Drawer- A retractable drawer that fit any notebooks and binders that a person may have.
School Supply Box Fitter: A box that holds all your supplies and books and adjusts to the size of a person’s locker.
Prototype:
Thinking hard for solutions for Austin :D
Feedback:
Question 1: Do you have any suggestions to improve our prototype of our invention?
Response:You should make the pencil holder bigger so that I can fit my pencil box in it. You should also make the draw smaller, so that it fits inside my locker without any problems.
Question 2: Do you think it is an effective solution to your problem? Why?
Response:This is a very effective solution to my problem. It fixes everything. Now, my binders and notebooks can stand up in my locker properly, and it is easier to get them. It organizes everything well.
Question 3: In the long run how well do you think the solution will work?
Response: The solution itself, is very good, and could work well. But, the problem with the prototype that was made, is that it isn't sturdy enough, to actually be stable for an extended period of time. I think it will probably stay a couple of weeks, before it breaks, or tears.
Question 4: Name a cool feature (be realistic) that you would like to have. Why?
Response: It would have been cool, if there was a labeling machine, inside of the locker, that could label all of my notebooks and keep them in a certain order for me. It is hard for me to know which notebook is for what, because I am usually in a hurry, and don't have time to look through my locker for the right notebook.
Question 5: What aspects of our solution did you like?
Response: I liked the extra drawer, that you made. This is an easy way for me to place things in a area, without having them get lost inside or pushed to the bottom of my locker. I also liked the pencil holder that you made, it makes it much easier to get a pencil or pen this way.
Question 6: What could we do to it to make it better?
Response: You could make it much sturdier. This prototype, isn't strong enough to withstand a lot of weight. It would be nice if it were smaller and a bit easier to handle. It is difficult trying to put the shelf in and out, it is very large.
Our Amazing Locker Shelf! :D
Analysis:
Describe at least 5 insights, epiphanies, re-frames (big or little) you had about working on this project. Please include what led you to these i.e. what fun stuff you did to uncover them? First, we discovered that brainstorming solutions to problems and solving "the marshmallow's" issue was hard work, but in the end, we learned that if we work together and put our minds together we can come up with a great solution, like the one we have. Next, we also figured out that there is always a way to innovate things around us a make them better. We incorporated many modern ideas of our time today and joined them to make a prefect solution for Austin. Also, we found out that there's always room for improvement and changes. Our team learned that the hard way. Our prototype broke and got torn several times, but we used our mistakes and learned to make changes and improvements. Next, we also learned that sometimes things won't go the way you planned. Several times we had to re-do our prototype because we thought it would turn out one way, but in the end, it just broke. Finally, we didn't know that there was a special process to create solutions for problems. As we went through each step (define, ideate, prototype, feedback) we understood a little more about the processes and how it plays an important role in making a great solution that is highly effective and useful.
How did you work as a team? As a team, we worked beautifully well together. We had a great time working as a group, and enjoyed every bit of it. We got along extremely well. We also worked together and helped each other to help Austin with his locker problem and create the BEST solution for him.
What was your best/worst team experience? The best experience was when we all worked together and got the shelf to fit inside the locker without any damage. The worst team experience we had was when Sanjna, ACCIDENTALLY cut Michael with scissors.
When was your team process strong? When we adapted to different situations where change was needed. And, when we understood and collaborated each other's ideas, to make our final product.
What would you do differently next time? Be more focused and try to stay on topic more in order to be more efficient with our work. We should bring more materials so that we have a wider selection of materials that we can use.
Shyre Thakkar, Pooja Kumar, Sanjna Udtha, Michael Kurian
6th Grader: Austin Joseph
Empathy:
Question 1: How did you feel on the first day of school?
Response: I felt that I needed a better schedule and I needed to know where to go. Overall, I liked all my teachers and the classes were fine.
Question 2: Tell me about a time you felt scared or intimidated in school.
Response: I never have really felt scared in the school.
Question 3: How did you feel when you went to all your classes? What do you think of all your teachers?
Response: I liked my classes, but the only problem, was that I think that the teachers should try to teach more advanced material.
Question 4: How do you feel about your locker?
Response: I don't really like the lockers because it has very little space and it is way too small to hold all of my binders, notebooks, etc.
Question 5: Tell me about a time you have felt overwhelmed in school.
Response: I have never really felt overwhelmed in this school because overall everyone is friendly and I haven't had any bad experiences with anyone (including the 8th graders).
Question 6: Tell me about a time you have slept extremely late because of homework.
Response: I have not stayed up late at all doing homework, I actually feel that I have less homework than I did in other schools that I went to, but I still stay up late for my own personal fun.
Question 7: What do you think about the lunch here?
Response: I think the lunch is awesome and much better than elementary school, but the lunch lines are very long.
Question 8: What do you think about the expectation levels here?
Response: Everything was almost up to my expectations (like I saw at the orientation), the only thing was, and I expected the curriculum to be higher level and more challenging.
Question 9: Is there any problems overall that you felt needed to be fixed at this school?
Response: I think that there should be bigger hallways, bigger lockers, and shorter lunch lines.
Define:
Possible Challenges:
Small Lockers*
Long Lunch Lines
Curriculum Too Easy
Bigger Hallways
Reflection Question: Why did you choose this challenge over all of the other possible challenges? Why, if this problem is solved, will it have the largest impact on many students?
We chose this challenge over all the other challenges because it seemed to impact a majority of the 6th graders, and Austin stressed that his biggest problem was having lack of space in his locker.This challenge was the best challenge to choose because lockers are a huge part of middle school. It is impossible for you to be organized and carry ALL of your stuff around at the same time. Having a locker is a solution to not having to carry all of your books and binders around. But this same locker, can become your biggest problem if you don't keep it organized and clean. You will have to dig in and out of your locker for things if you don't keep your locker tidy. This can lead to the problem of not having enough space to fitting all of your materials. If this problem is solved, it would have a huge impact on many students because people wouldn't have to carry around much stuff anymore, their lockers wouldn't be messy, and overall, things would be easier for them. Getting from class to class, and going to seven classes in a day would be much less of a hassle to them because their locker will be organized and it won't be difficult to get what they need and put away materials for each class. They may also start arriving to class earlier because they don't have to waste time on trying to fit their supplies in their locker.
Ideate:
We brainstormed several ideas for our 6th grader’s problem (Austin) but in the end he chose 5 of our solutions that we combined to make our final product. Austin liked all the ideas and wanted to combine them because all of them solved his problem of his small locker space. He couldn't fit anything before, but all these ideas combined organized his locker, gave him more space, and made necessary things more accessible.
Pencil made pencil holder: Holds all the supplies and works like a pencil box.
All-in-One school supplies: Has everything a person needs in supplies- all in one machine.
Portable Pocket: An extremely large pocket that holds all of your stuff, yet you can still fit it into your pocket.
Drawer- A retractable drawer that fit any notebooks and binders that a person may have.
School Supply Box Fitter: A box that holds all your supplies and books and adjusts to the size of a person’s locker.
Prototype:
Feedback:
Question 1: Do you have any suggestions to improve our prototype of our invention?
Response:You should make the pencil holder bigger so that I can fit my pencil box in it. You should also make the draw smaller, so that it fits inside my locker without any problems.
Question 2: Do you think it is an effective solution to your problem? Why?
Response:This is a very effective solution to my problem. It fixes everything. Now, my binders and notebooks can stand up in my locker properly, and it is easier to get them. It organizes everything well.
Question 3: In the long run how well do you think the solution will work?
Response: The solution itself, is very good, and could work well. But, the problem with the prototype that was made, is that it isn't sturdy enough, to actually be stable for an extended period of time. I think it will probably stay a couple of weeks, before it breaks, or tears.
Question 4: Name a cool feature (be realistic) that you would like to have. Why?
Response: It would have been cool, if there was a labeling machine, inside of the locker, that could label all of my notebooks and keep them in a certain order for me. It is hard for me to know which notebook is for what, because I am usually in a hurry, and don't have time to look through my locker for the right notebook.
Question 5: What aspects of our solution did you like?
Response: I liked the extra drawer, that you made. This is an easy way for me to place things in a area, without having them get lost inside or pushed to the bottom of my locker. I also liked the pencil holder that you made, it makes it much easier to get a pencil or pen this way.
Question 6: What could we do to it to make it better?
Response: You could make it much sturdier. This prototype, isn't strong enough to withstand a lot of weight. It would be nice if it were smaller and a bit easier to handle. It is difficult trying to put the shelf in and out, it is very large.
Analysis:
Describe at least 5 insights, epiphanies, re-frames (big or little) you had about working on this project. Please include what led you to these i.e. what fun stuff you did to uncover them? First, we discovered that brainstorming solutions to problems and solving "the marshmallow's" issue was hard work, but in the end, we learned that if we work together and put our minds together we can come up with a great solution, like the one we have. Next, we also figured out that there is always a way to innovate things around us a make them better. We incorporated many modern ideas of our time today and joined them to make a prefect solution for Austin. Also, we found out that there's always room for improvement and changes. Our team learned that the hard way. Our prototype broke and got torn several times, but we used our mistakes and learned to make changes and improvements. Next, we also learned that sometimes things won't go the way you planned. Several times we had to re-do our prototype because we thought it would turn out one way, but in the end, it just broke. Finally, we didn't know that there was a special process to create solutions for problems. As we went through each step (define, ideate, prototype, feedback) we understood a little more about the processes and how it plays an important role in making a great solution that is highly effective and useful.
How did you work as a team? As a team, we worked beautifully well together. We had a great time working as a group, and enjoyed every bit of it. We got along extremely well. We also worked together and helped each other to help Austin with his locker problem and create the BEST solution for him.
What was your best/worst team experience? The best experience was when we all worked together and got the shelf to fit inside the locker without any damage. The worst team experience we had was when Sanjna, ACCIDENTALLY cut Michael with scissors.
When was your team process strong? When we adapted to different situations where change was needed. And, when we understood and collaborated each other's ideas, to make our final product.
What would you do differently next time? Be more focused and try to stay on topic more in order to be more efficient with our work. We should bring more materials so that we have a wider selection of materials that we can use.
Extra Pictures:
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